179. American and Chinese Leaders on the Empress of China

President Barack Obama stated, "It was just a year after the end of our Revolution, when our nation was not much more than a set of ports and cities along the Atlantic, that an American ship named the Empress of China first sailed into Canton, looking to begin the first direct trade with China."

President Ronald Reagan pointed out, "Back in 1784, when the first American trading ship, the Empress of China, entered your waters, my country was unknown to you. We were a new republic eager to win a place in international commerce."

Chinese President Hu Jintao stated that "The Chinese people have always cherished goodwill towards the American people. In 1784, US merchant ship "Empress of China" sailed to China, opening the friendly exchanges between our two peoples."

I have found that this speech made by American Counsel-General in Mauca is interesting, therefore I present it to you below:

"Just a few months after the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolution in 1784, a three-masted, American sailing ship, newly named the Empress of China, with a crew of 34, set out from New York for Macau. The expedition was financed by a well-known American patriot, Robert Morris, a signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Morris's objective was to directly purchase Chinese tea, much in demand in our young nation. The Empress arrived at Macau in August 1784 with a cargo of 30 tons of wild New England ginseng root which it traded at Chinese ports for tea, cotton cloth, silk, tableware and spice. The venture was a success, and soon led to a flourishing trade after the Empress returned to New York in May 1785." You can enjoy the story how the ginseng root helped the opening of the relations between China and the Uniated States through my paper, Gingseng, the herb that Helped the United States to Enter International Commerce.

Finally, you could enjoy my paper, With China We Trade, and learn how George Washington promoted the Empress of China.